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TRAVELLER
19
DISCOVERIES
SalvatoreCalabrese
AS TOLD TO EMMA FEATHERSTONE
I’M FROM THE AMALFI COAST.
It’s a very romantic place. I always say
God has stopped there and made the world. I go back there every year
for my summer holiday. I go fishing – I get up early and go for a boat ride.
It’s not a big boat – just enough for me and my family and friends.
I STARTEDWORKING
at 11 years old. In the summer holiday I worked
in a bar: I got up at 5am and sliced bread for 400 people. That’s where I
learned how to be precise, because if one slice of bread was thicker than
another, you’d know about it.
LONDON IS EUROPE’S BEST
cocktail city. It’s the cosmopolitan centre of
the world. I’ve just opened up a bar in Los Angeles, but London seems to
always spark something.
IT TOOK GOD SIX DAYS
to create the world, it took me five to create the
best martini on the planet. In 1985, I served this person and he wrote a
story about it. Turns out, he wrote for the
San Francisco Chronicle
and for
The Times,
and that’s how the story began.
MY FIRST BAR
was Salvatore at FIFTY, at 50 St James’s, London. Robert
De Niro came in – he’s my hero. He turned around and said, “What makes
you so special?” I said, “Take a cup, step in and you’ll find out.”
I’VE SERVED SOME
very iconic people. Almost all the James Bonds and
eventually Her Majesty – she’s a keen martini drinker.
MY LOVE OF COGNAC
has led me to many interesting places and
people. It’s truly a noble spirit and my collection of it represents periods of
history. It’s not something you make today and drink tomorrow.
LONDON’S BAR SCENE
has changed immensely. In the 80s, the only way
you could get a good drink was to go to a hotel bar. If you went to a pub
and asked for a Manhattan, they would look at you like, “What are you
talking about? Go to New York!”
Try Salvatore’s creations at Salvatore’s Bar, The Playboy Club, 14 Old Park Lane,
London W1. For more information, see salvatore-calabrese.co.uk
‘TheMaestro’ hasbeenmixingcocktails forA-Listers since
themid-80s.He talksabout lifebehindtheworld’sbest bars
PLANE TALKING